POSTED ON TAP ONLINE: CITIES FOR SALE.

POSTED ON TAP ONLINE: CITIES FOR SALE.Ben AdlerreviewsJason Hackworth's new book, The Neoliberal City: Governance, Ideology and Development in American Urbanism:

While The Neoliberal City is informative on the subject of privatization and corporate involvement in gentrification, it leaves the reader a bit puzzled. Hackworth only describes, he does not proscribe. So while it is clear that he thinks the neoliberal city is deeply problematic, he presents no alternative. He states that "[t]he days of Keynesian urban policy seem to have expired -- or at least gone into hibernation -- and city governments have adapted to the new conditions." It seems he would agree that pushing massive urban public construction projects, such as those associated with New Deal and Great Society-era programs and a bygone industrial age, is no longer a realistic direction for urban America.But then what is? The cities that look and feel vibrant today are the ones, like New York, San Francisco, Boston, Austin, and Portland, that have done precisely what the creative class naysayers oppose.